Fluid pressure braking apparatus



Oct. 22, 1940. w w

FLUID PRESSURE BRAKING APARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Oct. 22, 1940.

IIIIIIIIIIIII/I III/.Il/I/ VIIIIIIIII/ II/IIIIA' v w. E. WINE FLUIDPRESSURE BRAKING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 22,1940.

W. E. WINE FLUID PRESSURE BRAKING APPARATUS Filed. Oct. 1'8, 1935 4Sheets-Sheet 3 W. E. WINE FLUID PRESSURE BRAKING APPARATUS Oct. 22,1940.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 18. 1935 Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITEDSTATES FLUID PRESSURE BRAKING APPARATUS William E. Wine, Toledo, OhioApplication October is, 1935, Serial No. 45,665

11 Claims.

' My invention relates to fluid pressure braking apparatus for railwayand other vehicles and more particular-lyto mechanism for automatioallyvarying the braking power of the system :1 according to the light orloaded condition of the vehicle.

One of the principal objects of the invention to provide simple andefiicient means which is only operable upon an increase of the fluidpressure of the brake system from a low or uncharged condition forvarying the braking power of the system.

Another object simple and reliable means for automatically varying theleverage ratio "of the brake rigging of a railway car according to thelight or loaded condition of the vehicle.

Other objects and advantageous features of the invention willhereinafter appear and. be fully pointed out in the claims. i

In the drawings: a

Figure l is a diagrammatic view illustrating the invention applied to arailway car of the hopper type, the mechanism being shown in theposition it normally assumes when the car is empty and conventionalparts of the brake system of such cars being shown'in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main parts of themechanism in their normal positions which approximately correspond to.the positions they occupy when the car is loaded, the

; nism for varying the leverage ratio of the brake rigging, themechanism being in the position it occupies when the car is empty.

Figure 8 an end view of the mechanism illustrated in Figure '7. I v

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on a line corresponding to line 9-9of Figure '7, the parts being shown in the position they occupy when inthe position shown in dotted lines in Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic sectional viewof a portion of a railway cartruck provided with a of the invention is to provide 1 M Slide valve[l 3member for cooperating with means associated with the control valve.Referring more particularly to the drawings, the appanatus comprises ingeneral a changeover valve mechanism I, a control valve 2 and anoperating cylinder 3. The conventional parts of a railway brake systemillustrated in dotted lines in Figure, 1 includes a train pipe 4, atriple or distributing valve 5, an auxiliary reservoir 6, abrakecyl-inder I and the pipes connecting these various parts. v t

The change-over valve mechanism l comprises a casing 8 having a port 9which is in open communication with the train line pipe :4 by means of apipe l0. Fluid pressure'entering port :9 es- 1 capes into, the casing 8through relatively small apertures ll. Slidably' mounted within thecasing are two valves 12 and I3, respectively, and so that they mayberesponsive toand operable by the fluid pressure, the stem of eachispreferably provided with a'flexible diaphragm-or the like l4. Slidevalve l2 controls the passage of fluid pressure from thechange-over-valve mechanism to the oontrolvalve 2 and a spring [5 isprovided to maintain the slide valve in a position (see Fig- 3 ure 2)enabling theflow of fluid pressure through a pipe I6 to the'controlvalve until the pressure within the casing 8 exceeds a predeterminedvalue. After the pressure within the casing Bexceeds this predeterminedvalue, slide valve [2 is caused to move into a position (see Figures .3and 4) preventing the flow of fluid to the control valve and,whenin'this position, the cavity I! with which the valve is providedconnects pipe l6 withan atmospheric portlfl, whereby the fluid withinthe control valve is exhausted. The port [8 may, if desired, be providedwitha pipe orthe like 180. in open communication with the atmosphere.

operating. cylinder}. Mechanism, to be hereinafter described, isprovided for normally preventing movement of valve l3 by the fluidpressure and to maintain it inia position (see Figure The mechanismnormal-1y preventing moves ment of slide valve .l'3 may advantageouslyconsist of a lcylindnical bolt or the like 22, which is slidably mountedwithin a chamber 23 located at V controls the flow of fluid pres a surefrom the casing 81 through a pipe H! to the PA-TENT. OFFICE the outerend of the stem 24 of the valve. The bolt 22 is provided with anaperture 25 which is adapted to be brought into registry with the stem24 to permit movement of the slide valve under the influence of thefluid pressure within the casing 8 into a position (see Figure 4)permitting the passage of fluid from casing 8 through pipe I9 to theoperating cylinder 3. The bolt 22 is normally maintained in a positionpreventing movement of slide valve |3 by a spring 26 which may beconveniently disposed within chamber 23. The bolt is adapted to be movedinto a position enabling movement of slide valve l3 by fluid pressureand, for this purpose, it may be advantageously provided with a flexiblediaphragm 21 disposed within a chamber 28 having communication througha, pipe 29 with a valve controlled port of the control valve 2.

The control valve comprises a casing 36 in which is slidably mounted a.plunger 3| adapted to be operated by the fluid pressure of the brakesystem. While the plunger may be provided with any suitable fluidpressure responsive means, it is preferably provided intermediate itsends with a flexible diaphr agm32 and encircling one end of the plungeris a spring 32a for normally maintaining it in inoperative. position, asshown in Figure 2. The upper end of the plunger is of reduced crosssectional area and mounted thereon between shoulders :or the like 33 and34, respectively, is a relatively slidable vlalve 35 for controlling thepassage of fluid pressure to chamber' 28 in which the diaphragm foractuating the bolt 22 is disposed. When the plunger is in its elevatedinoperative position (see Figure 2), slide valve 35 is disposed in aposition so that cavity 36 with which it is provided connects pipe 29leading to chamber 28 to an atmospheric port 31. Upon actuation of theplunger by the fluid pressure, the shoulder 33 at the end of the plungeris adapted to engage the slide valve and move it into a position (seeFigure 6) uncovering theport leading to pipe 29, thus permitting thepassage of fluid pressure into chamber 28 for operating bolt 22.

Plunger 3| of the control valve is provided with an extension,preferably in the form of a detachable rod or pin 38, for cooperatingwith an unsprung part of the car which, since the control valveismounted on the car body, is capable of assuming different positions withrespect to the control valve depending upon the light or loadedcondition of the car. In the present embodiment of the invention whereinit is shown as being applied to a railway hopper car, the control valve2 is secured to one of the body bolsters 39 of the car so that theextension 38 of the plunger is movable vertically and extends downwardlythrough an opening formed in the top of the center sill 40 of the carfor cooperating with means 4| extending through a bore formed in theking pin 42 of the adjacent car truck. Means 4| comprises a rod,preferably formed in two sections for convenience of assembly, the lowerend of which extends through an opening formed in the bottom wall 43 ofthe truck bolster 44 and rests upon and is supported by a member 45secured to the side frames 46 of the truck. It will thus be appreciatedthat the distance between the lower end of rod 38 of the control valve 2and the upper end of the rod 4 I will vary in accordance with variationsof the load inlthe vehicle. Accordingly the extent of movement ofplunger 3| of the controlvalve is determined by the loaded condition ofthe car and the various parts of the control valve are so formed andproportioned that it is only when the car is unloaded that the plungermay be moved a sufficient distance to cause valve 35 to uncover the portcommunicating with pipe 29 leading to chamber 28.

The operating cylinder 3 comprises a casing 48 in which is slidablymounted a tubular sleeve 49, the inner end of which is interiorlythreaded to receive a head or plug 58 by which a rod 5| is connected tothe sleeve. The inner end of the rod is enlarged to provide a head 52which engages behind an internal rib 53 of the sleeve and, in order topermit the rod to angle with respect to the sleeve, the enlarged head isformed as a substantially spherical knob which fits Within a suitablyshaped recess in the head or plug 56. Instead of providing the sleevewith a conventional piston, it

is preferred to employ a collapsible and expansible bellows 54, to theinner end of which the head or plug 56 is secured as by welding.Interposed between the bellows 54 and the sleeve 49 and en circling thelatter is a helical spring 55 for normally maintaining the sleeve andthe associated rod 5| in their innermost positions in the cylinder.

Rod 5| of the operating cylinder is connected to mechanism for varyingthe leverage ratio of the brake rigging. This mechanism includes a brakelever of the type disclosed and claimed in my 00- pending applicationSerial No. 8,372, filed Februcry 26, 1935, which is formed in twosections 56 and 51, respectively, section 56 being pivotally mounted ona bracket 58 rigidly secured to a suitable portion of the car andsection 51 being pivotally connected to the opposite end of section 56.The end of section 51 opposite the one pivotally connected to section 56is connected to a brake rod 59 and, at an intermediate point, it isconnected to the piston rod of the brake cylinder 1. Section 56 of thelever is preferably formed with two laterally spaced coextensiveplate-like portions 65 which are rigidly connected at their lower endsbya transverse web 6| adapted to engage the inner edge of section 51below the point of pivotal connection of thetwo sections. Due to thisconstruction, it will be perceived that, when the piston rod of thebrake cylinder is moved outwardly in a brake applying direction, the twosections of the lever will move as a. substantially rigid unit totransmit a brakingforce to the brake rod 59.

To cause section 57 of the brake lever to move independently of section56 about the pin connecting them and, to thereby decrease the brakingleverage, means is provided which is operable by the operating cylinder3 for restraining movement of lever section 56. This means comprises amember 62 which extends between the spaced plate portion 66 of leversection 56, the outer end of which is provided with oppositelyprojecting bossesor the like 63, which are adapted to engage the outerside edges of adjacent portions of the plate portions 60 within recesses64; Extending axially through the bosses 63 is a pin 65 pivotallyconnecting member 62 to a pair of links 66 which are pivotally mountedon bracket 58 by the same pin connecting lever section 56 thereto.

Member 62 is actuated to move the bosses 63 thereof into and out ofcooperative association with lever section 55 by a bell crank lever 61,

-which is journaled within a downwardly extending bifurcated portion 68of bracket 58 and has two pairs of arms 69 and 10, arms 69 beingpivotally connected to the inner end of member 62 and arms 16 beingpivotally connected to a memout of the cylinder and thus operate member62 to bring it into position for preventing movement of lever section56, a line joining the axes of the means pivotally connecting member 62to links 66 and arms 69 of bell crank 61 will pass beneath the pivotalaxis of the bell crank. Lever section 56, therefore, instead of tendingto rotate the bell crank in a direction whichwould result in moving imember 62 into an inoperative position, tends to rotate the bell crankin the opposite direction. Although cylinder 3 operatively associatedwith member 62 in such manner that, when fluid pressure is admitted tothe cylinder, member 62 is moved from an inoperative position into aposition in which it is operative to restrain movement of lever section56,'it will be readily appreciated that the parts may beeasilyrearranged so as to produce the opposite result, namely, to move member62 from a position in which it is operative to engage lever section 56into a position in which it is inoperative to engage this section;

Due to the slack in the brake rigging of all railway cars, it ispreferred that lever's'ection 56 will not be restrained from movement'bymember 62 until after all of the slack in the brake rigging has beentaken up. Accordingly, as shown in Figure '7, sections 56 and 5'! of thebrake lever always move as a rigid unit to take up slack and v it is notuntil after the lever has assumed a position, the dotted line positionshown in Figure 7, in which the slack'has been taken up that member 62is capable of arresting movement of sec tion 56.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Assuming that the brakesystem is at atmospheric pressure, the various parts of the change-overvalve mechanism l, the control valve 2 and the operating cylinder 3 willbe in the positions shown in Figure 2. As soon as fluid under pressureis supplied to train pipe 4, it :will flow through pipe I into casing 8of the change-over valve mechanism and thence through pipe l6 into thecontrol valve 2. Plunger 3'! of the control valve is then caused to movedownwardly and the extent to which the plunger may be moved iscontrolled by the position of the rod 4! extending upwardly through theking pin 12. If the car is loaded or nearly so, the upper end of rod 4|will be disposed in a position closely ad- 1 jacent the lower end of rod38 or" the plunger,

such as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2a, and the plunger, therefore,may be only moved a limited distance into a position, such as shown inFigure 5. If the car is unloaded or nearly so, thatis light, the upperend of rod All will be disposed at a greater distance from the lower endof rod 36 of the plunger of the control valve, so that the plunger maybe moved a greater distance and suflicient to move slide valve 35 intothe position shown in Figure 6.

When the car on which the apparatus is installed is loaded and the fluidpressure admitted into the control valve is, therefore, not capable ofmoving plunger 3i thereof a suflicient distance to move slide valve 35to uncover the port with which pipe 231 communicates, fluid pressurewill not be admitted to chamber 28 and bolt 22 will not be operated toenable movement of valve l3 bythe fiuid'pressure. After the pressure ofthe fluid within casing 8 of the changeover valve mechanism exceeds apredetermined value, such, for example, as thirty pounds, the forceexerted by spring I5 is overcome and'valve I2 is caused to move upwardlyinto the position indicated in Figure 3, thus cutting off the flow offluid pressure to the control valve and venting pipe IE to theatmosphere. Spring 32a encircling'plunger 3| of the control valve thenfunctions to return the plunger into its normal inoperative positionindicated in Figure 2. A sufiicient interval intervenes between the timefluid pressure first passes into the control valve and the time pressurebuilds up within casing 8 to move the valve i2, so that ampleopportunity is afforded for the plunger to be operated by the fluidpressure. Moreover, the spring for returning the plunger to itsinoperative position exerts only sufficient force to accomplish thisresult, which force is considerably less than the force required tooperate spring l5 which cooperates with the valve 12. From theforegoingit will be perceived that, when the car to which the apparatusis applied is fully loaded, fluid presv sure is not supplied to theoperating cylinder 3 and th'elatter will, therefore, remain in itsnormal inoperative position illustrated in Figure 2, in which positionmember 62 is inoperative to restrain movement of lever section 56. "Thesections of the lever will,'therefore, move as a rigid unit-t0 transmita maximum braking force. I

When the vehicle on which the apparatus is installed is empty, or nearlyso, sufficient distance intervenes between the lower end of plunger 3|and the upper end of rod 4} to permit the plunger to move far enough tocause slide valve 35 to uncover the port communicating with pipe 29.When the slide valve assumes this position (see Figure 6), fluidpressure within the control valve passes through pipe 29 into chamber 28where it' operates diaphragm 2'! to move bolt 22 into a position causingaperture of the bolt to register.

with stem 24 of slide valve [3. Cooperating with the slide valve I3 is aspring 13" for normally maintaining the valve in'the position shown inFigure 2 and, whilefit is preferred that this spring exert a forcesubstantially thesame as spring I5 cooperating with valve -i2, so thatvalve l3 will move at substantially the same instant'valve 12 moves,spring I3 mayexert a considerably less force than spring l5, but caremust be taken that it is not of such capacity that a greater force willbe required to actuate valve 13 than valve l2. After bolt 22 has beenactuated by the fluid pressure flowing through the control valve andsufficient pressure (the same or less than that required to operatevalve l2) has been built up within casing 8 to actuate valve 53,thisvalve moves into the position shown in Figure fl, un-

covering the port communicating with pipe [9 and thus enabling fluid topass into the operating cylinder to cause the mechanism associatedtherewith to assume the position shown in Figure l and also in fulllines in Figure 7,.

As soon as the pressure in casing 8 exceeds'the predetermined valueheretofore mentioned, slide valve [2 is again actuated and movedinto theposition shown in Figure 4, thus cutting off the supply of fluidpressure to the control valve and enabling the plunger to moveupwardlyunder the influence of spring 320. into the position shown in Figure 2.In this position, pipe 29 is vented to the atmosphere through cavity 36of slide valve and atmospheric port 3'1, thus exhaustingthe pressurefrom chamber .28. Bolt 22 is, however,

prevented from moving under the influence of spring 26 into the positionshown in Figure 2, due to the stem 24 of slide valve l3 being disposedwithin the aperture 25 of the bolt. It will be appreciated that so longas the pressure of the fluid within casing 8 is maintained at such valuepreventing return of slide valve I3 by spring 13 into the positionindicated in Figure 2,

fluid pressure will be supplied to operating cyl- Figure 2. When slidevalve I3 assumes the position there indicated, cavity 20 thereofconnects pipe Hi to atmospheric port I8, so that rod of the operatingcylinder is always enabled, when there is no fluid pressure in thesystem, to return under the influence of spring 55 to the positionindicated in Figure 2 wherein the brake lever cooperating mechanism isset in a position enabling the brake lever to transmit a maximum brakingforce.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that a simple and reliableapparatus has been provided for varying the braking power of a fluidpressure braking system according to the light or loaded condition ofthe vehicle, which is only operable during the interval the pressure ofthe system increases from a low or uncharged condition to apredetermined value and is incapable of operation as long asthe'pressure does not drop below the predetermined value. Moreover, asthe pre determined value is one below which the fluid pressure of thebraking system of the vehicle on which the apparatus is installed willnot drop during normal operation of the vehicle, the braking power ofthe system initially established by the apparatus will not vary undernormal operating conditions of the vehicle.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is notlimited to use with means for changing the leverage ratio of the brakerigging to vary the braking power of the system and that it is capableof use with other and perhaps more conventional means for varying thebraking power of a fluid pressure system.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,fluid pressure operated means for varying the braking power of thesystem, valve means operable by the fluid pressure for controlling theoperation of said means, mechanism controlling the operation of saidvalve means including a device movable by the fluid pressure accordingto the light or loaded condition of the vehicle, and additional valvemeans responsive to the fluid pressure and operable upon a predeterminedincrease in said pressure to shut off the flow of fluid to said device.

2. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,fluid pressure operated means for varying the braking power of thesystem, valve means subject to the fluid pressure for controlling theflow of fluid pressure to said means, movable means normally adapted tobe engaged by said valve means for preventing movement of the latter bythe fluid pressure, and means for controlling the operation of saidmovable means including a device movable by the fluid pressure accordingto the light or loaded condition of the vehicle. I

3. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,fluid pressure operated means for varying the braking power of thesystem, valve means subject to the fluid pressure for controlling the,flow of fluid pressure to said means, movable means normally preventingmovement of said valve means in one direction, pressure responsive meansfor actuating said movable means, and a device movable by the fluidpressure according to the light or loaded condition of the vehicle forcontrolling the flow of fluid to said pressure responsive means.

4. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,fluid pressure operated means for varying the braking power of thesystem, valve means constantly subject to the fluid pressure forcontrolling the flow of said fluid to said means, movable means normallylocking said valve means against movement by the fluid pressure,pressure responsive means for causing said movable means to assume aposition permitting movement of said valve means by the fluid pressure,and a device movable by the fluid pressure according to the light orloaded condition of the vehicle for controlling the flow of fluid tosaid pressure responsive means.

5. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,fluid pressure operated means for varying the braking power of thesystem, valve means subject to th fluid pressure for controlling theoperation of said means, movable means normally locking said valve meansagainst movement by the fluid pressure, and mechanism responsive to thefluid pressure and movable thereby according to the light or loadedcondition of the vehicle for controlling movement of said movable meansto an inoperative positon, said valve means after assuming open positionupon movement of the movable means to inoperative position beingcooperable with the movable means to maintain the latter in inoperativeposition independent of said mechanism.

6. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,means adapted to be actuated by the fluid pressure for varying thebraking power of the system, a valve normally disposed in closedposition preventing the flow of fluid pressure to said means, meanssubject to the fluid pressure for moving said valve to open position,movable means normally preventing movement of the valve to openposition, pressure responsive means adapted to be subjected to the fluidpressure for causing said movable means to assume a position enablingsaid valve to move to open position, and a device movable by the fluidpressure according to the light or loaded condition of the vehicle forcontrolling the flow of fluid to said pressure responsive means.

'7. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,means adapted to be actuated by the fluid pressure for varying thebraking power of the system, valve means movable by the fluid pressurefor controlling the flow of fluid 'to said means, movable meanscooperable with said valve means normally preventing movement thereof bythe fluid pressure, mechanism for controlling the operation of saidmovable means including a device movable by the fluid pressure accordingto the light or loaded condition of the vehicle, and additional valvemeans responsive to the fluid pressure and operable upon apredetervehicle, a plurality of valve means each subject to the fluidpressure, one of said valve means being operable upon a predeterminedincrease in thefluid pressure to shut ofi the flow of fluid to saiddevice and the other of said valve means controlling the flow of fluidto the means for varying the braking power of the system, movable meansnormally restraining movement of said last named valve means, and fluidpressure means operable according to the extent of movement of saiddevice for causing said movable means to assume a position permittingmovement of the last named valve means.

9. In combination with a fluid pressure brake sure operated device foractuating said movable system for a vehicle, valve means adapted to bemoved by the fluid pressure of the system for adjusting the brakingpower of the system according to the light or loaded condition of thevehicle, movable means normally restraining movement of the valve meansby the fluid pressure, fluid pressure operated means for causing saidmovable means to assume a position enabling movement of the valve means,and a device movable by the fluid pressure according to the light orloaded condition of the vehicle for controlling the fiow of fluid tosaid pressure operated means.

10. In combination with a fluid pressure brake system for a vehicle,valve means for adjusting the braking power of the system according tothe light or loaded condition of the'vehicle, said valve means beingconstantly subject to the fluid pressure of the system and adapted to bemoved thereby, movable means adapted to be operated by the fluidpressure normally preventing movement of said valve means, and mechanismfor controlling the supply of fluid pressure to said movable means, saidmechanism including a device movable by the fluid pressure intodifferent positions according to the light or loaded condition of thevehicle.

11. In combination with a railway car brake rigging and a fluid pressuresystem for operating the brake rigging, movable means for varying theleverage ratio of the brake rigging, a fluid presmeans,,val ve means for"controlling theflow of the fluid pressure in the system to said device,and means including a device responsive to the fluid pressure of thesystem and movable thereby into difierentpositions according to thelight or loaded condition of the car for controlling the operation ofsaid valve means.

WILLIAM E. WINE.

